Historical Events That Sound Fake
In 1932, this nation declared war on a population of large flightless birds that were destroying crops. The birds ultimately won.
Australia
(The Great Emu War)
In 1985, this soft drink reformulation was introduced to replace the original formula, only to be pulled after a massive consumer backlash
New Coke
This music television network launched in 1981 with the video for “Video Killed the Radio Star.”
MTV
This country is home to the world's largest rainforest and contains the largest volume of freshwater carried by a single river.
Brazil
This 1995 film tells the story of NASA astronauts whose lunar mission suffered a catastrophic explosion, leading to the famous phrase, “Houston, we have a problem.”
Apollo 13
This 1859 conflict between the United States and Great Britain was nearly triggered when an American farmer shot a pig belonging to a British company.
Pig War
This handheld gaming system from Nintendo launched in 1995 with red-and-black 3D graphics and sold so poorly that it was discontinued less than a year later
Virtual Boy
This singer's 1984 album Purple Rain produced multiple hit singles and was accompanied by a feature film of the same name.
Prince
This island nation has more sheep than people and was the filming location for much of The Lord of the Rings trilogy
New Zealand
Leonardo DiCaprio portrayed a real-life con artist who successfully impersonated airline pilots, doctors, and lawyers before his 21st birthday in this film.
Catch Me If You Can
In 1518, residents of this European city reportedly danced uncontrollably for days or even weeks, with some participants allegedly dying from exhaustion
Strasbourg
This Microsoft portable music player was launched to compete with Apple's iPod but never gained significant market share.
Zune
This actor portrayed Alex P. Keaton, the conservative teenage son on the sitcom Family Ties, a role that helped launch his Hollywood career.
Michael J. Fox
This country has no rivers at all, yet supports a population of more than 30 million people through desalination and groundwater resources
Saudi Arabia
This 2010 film follows the creation of Facebook and the legal battles that followed its explosive growth.
The Social Network
In 1976, North Korean and U.S. forces nearly started a war over the trimming of a tree inside the Korean Demilitarized Zone. What was the name of the Operation?
Operation Paul Bunyan
This personal transportation device was hyped as a revolutionary invention that would transform cities, but it failed to achieve widespread adoption despite massive investment.
Segway
This arcade game became the highest-grossing coin-operated video game of the 1980s and inspired a hit song by Buckner & Garcia.
Pac-Man
This African nation contains the world's largest hot desert and is the largest country in Africa by land area.
Algeria
Christian Bale won an Academy Award for portraying this former boxer and crack cocaine addict who helped his half-brother rise to boxing stardom.
The Fighter
In 1925, this U.S. state and a neighboring state nearly went to war over a small strip of land near Toledo, requiring federal intervention.
Ohio and Michigan
This Google wearable device generated enormous excitement as a glimpse into the future, but privacy concerns, limited functionality, and a high price doomed its consumer launch.
Google Glass
This short-lived toy craze of 1983 involved collecting small plastic figurines packaged inside tiny trash-can-shaped containers.
Trash Bag Bunch
This country is home to the world's oldest continuously operating parliament, established in 930 AD.
Iceland
This 2007 film stars Tom Hanks as a U.S. Congressman who helped fund covert operations that significantly increased support for Afghan fighters during the Soviet-Afghan War
Charlie Wilson's War